Free Comic Book Day has become quite the draw

Free Comic Book Day is always the first Saturday in May, as the costumed woman in this photo from a previous year's event makes clear. FILE PHOTO

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"Superman: The Last Son of Krypton #1" is a primer for the upcoming Warner Bros. Pictures' "Man of Steel" movie. This free comic book from DC features the first chapter of the "Superman: Last Son of Krypton" as well as a preview of the new monthly series starring The Man of Steel.

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The Free Comic Book Day issue of "The Walking Dead" contains a new Tyrese short story and also reprints short stories featuring Michonne, The Governor and Morgan.

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The Simpsons including Bart and Maggie are among the characters feature in Bongo's free comic book for 2013.

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"Grimm" is the comic-book version of the NBC TV series and it's Dynamic Forces' offering for Free Comic Book Day 2013.

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"Hulk and the Agents of S.M.A.S.H." and "Avengers Assemble" are Disney XD animated series set to debut this summer. Get a sneak peek at what they'll be in this Free Comic Book Day offering from Marvel Comics.

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Elmo and the Sesame Street gang are featured in this Free Comic Book Day offering from Ape Entertainment.

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Videogame icons Sonic the Hedgehog and Mega Man meet up for the first time in a new mash-up series from Archie Comic Publications for Free Comic Book Day.

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SpongeBob, Squidward, Patrick and the rest of the Bikini Bottom gang are featured in United Plankton Pictures' free comic for 2013.

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Free Comic Book Day falls on Star Wars Day -- May the Fourth -- this year so this free comic from Dark Horse should be a popular one. In addition to a Star Wars story it includes a new Captain Midnight tale as well as something from Avatar: The Last Airbender.

When Free Comic Book Day debuted a dozen years ago, it was a modest success. Comic book shops that participated announced they'd be giving away select titles, people showed up, got a book and went home.

But every year since, the event held the first Saturday in May has gotten bigger and bigger, says Mark Bushik, manager of Comics Unlimited in Westminster.

"And in no small part, with the movies and TV shows coming out (based on comics), it's turned into an event of its own," he says. "We have people dress up in costumes who come. Some people just come and get a free comic. Other people come and shop. Other people want to socialize.

"It's a party," Bushik says of the celebration set for Saturday at more than 2,000 comic book shops around Orange County, the country and the world.

Fans can pick from titles that range from classic characters such as Superman, The Hulk, Prince Valiant and Archie, to more contemporary fare such as Robert Kirkman's "The Walking Dead" series that inspired the hit TV show or "Marble Season," a new book by Gilbert Hernandez of "Love & Rockets" fame.

And depending on which shop you stop by in Orange County, you'll find comics' creators doing signings and sketches, food trucks and photo booths, one-of-of-a-kind items and special sales.

Like every good superhero, Free Comic Book Day has an origin story of its own. April 2001 in Concord: Joe Field, owner of Flying Color Comics, surveyed his universe and decided that despite all the high-flying speculation in comics in the '90s, the marketplace had more or less fallen back to where it was in the '80s, before the boom.

"What I saw was that we had come through this big boom and big bust," says Field, talking about the column he posted on his website and was published in a comics trade magazine calling for some kind of outreach. "But I also saw that creatively, things were starting to spark. There was a lot going on, just not being received by as large of a potential audience as there was."

A year later, the first Free Comic Book Day was held. Five publishers made a handful of special titles and the comic book stores invited all to stop by and pick one up. This year, Field says more than 40 publishers have provided books and more than 4.6 million copies will be given away – up from 3.4 million books a year ago.

"I think what it comes down to, what I was looking at was for a more organic way to grow," Field says. "A way to invite people in for the right reasons, and that is to enjoy this singular and sublime entertainment that comics can be."

DC Comics co-publisher Dan DiDio has worked for that company almost exactly as long as Free Comic Book Day has been around.

“We’ve watched this grow by leaps and bounds every year,” DiDio says. “One of the other things we’ve seen is how comics have really entered the zeitgeist in a bigger and bigger way.”

Comic-Con, TV shows such as “The Big Bang Theory,” movies based on characters and stories by DC and other publishers have all helped make comic books more mainstream than ever, he says.

“There’s so much awareness of these characters and stories in other mediums, it’s great to bring everybody back to the core,” DiDio says, talking about the way in which a free comic book such as DC’s “Superman: The Last Son of Krypton” makes a connection with the upcoming “Man Of Steel” Superman movie.

At Comics Toons N' Toys in Tustin, Ken Rolow says the event started out quietly, just stacks of free comics on hand to give out to customers who stopped by on the day. Over the past three years, though, the store has made the event bigger and bigger. In 2010, artist Dean Trippe came to the store to sign and meet fans on Free Comic Book Day.

"A lot of people enjoyed coming out and getting a sketch from an artist," Rolow says. "From there we expanded to about five or six creators on-hand."

This year, Comics Toons N' Toys has comics' artists and writers including Dustin Nguyen, Chynna Clugston Flores and Ray-Anthony Height on hand. At Beach Ball Comics in Anaheim, comics' creators including Chris Roberson and Max Bemis will be signing.

Nuclear Comics in Laguna Niguel also plans to have artists on hand for the day. Comics Unlimited is auctioning unique prints and other merchandise donated by creators and publishers as part of a fundraiser for the Hero Initiative, which helps older comic creators in need. (Other stores around Orange County also are participating in the day in different ways. To find shops taking part close to you, visit freecomicbookday.com/storelocator.)

Rolow, who serves as event coordinator for the day at Comics Toons N' Toys, says that in many ways Free Comic Book Day has turned into a mini-festival of the comic arts, a dozen years after its founding.

"A lot of times, our customers aren't able to go to Comic-Con in San Diego anymore because it's gotten so big," he says. "So with us adding in artists, it's a way for them to come out and meet some of the artists and writers."

Bushik, at Comics Unlimited, says his shop ordered every title it could this year. (Stores buy the free books from publishers at a lower-than-wholesale price, essentially just to cover the cost of printing, Field says.) And while he expects "The Walking Dead" title to be the most popular, given the popularity of the TV series, he expects fans of every flavor to walk through the door on Saturday.

"So many other big things are tapped into by the general public," he says. "'Adventure Time,' 'Star Wars,' 'The Avengers,' 'Superman.' There's somebody out there for every book and a book out there for every person."

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